I was never a basketball player, but when I did attempt to join the guys in a pickup game, the other team always looked larger than our team. I wondered why is that. Not long ago, I read about a 7 ft.,  9 in. teenage basketball player in Florida. He has grown two inches in the last two months.

I started thinking about how our minds quickly perceive when we are outnumbered and outmatched. It is a survival instinct.

Remember David and Goliath? Goliath was seven feet taller than David, yet David ran at him with a rock and a sling!

Here are a few things to remember when you come up against a battle where you are “outnumbered”:

1. GOD IS WITH YOU.

In Deuteronomy 20, God told Israel that when they were outnumbered in a battle, they should not fear, for “I am with you.” That little phrase means everything. If He is with us, He is for us. If God is for us, “who can be successful against us?” (Rom.8:31)

That little phrase is all God told Israel when they faced the giants of Canaan: “I am with you.” Declare this out loud right now: “GOD IS WITH ME!”

    2. DON’T BE AFRAID.

Israel’s priest would face the soldiers of Israel and tell them, “Hear O Israel, today you are drawing near for battle against your enemies: let not your heart faint. Do not fear or panic or be in dread of them” (Deut.20:3). Fear turns to panic, and panic turns to dread. Declare this out loud right now: “I AM NOT AFRAID!”

Steps 3 & 4 tomorrow…